MTV covers podcasting


MTV (gasp!) has an interesting story on podcasting, referencing Adam Curry (of course) and Dave Winer (who returned the favor by linking to the story from his website instead of complaining about how he never gets credit for his contributions to Western civilization).

Excerpt:

The key to podcasting's allure lies in its TiVo-like setup. Instead of spending minutes, or sometimes hours, waiting for the podcasts to download, users subscribe to a program and never have to seek out their show again. Your computer searches for new episodes and whether you're at your computer or not, the show downloads automatically and is ready to dump onto your iPod or other device. Unlike traditional broadcasting, the listener controls when he or she will listen to the program. Plus, the iPodder software works not just for broadcasts, but for video, pictures and even software updates.

"You can hear all these shows that are completely free and open with no FCC restrictions and they don't have to sound the way radio traditionally has," Curry said. The medium also provides an untapped avenue of exposure for new acts. When Curry started playing tracks by the all-girl New York vocal band the Lascivious Biddies, the indie group quickly saw an increase in online album sales. "Now they're being played on other podcasts and there's definitely more people at their shows who've learned about them on podcasts," said the group's production manager, Ben Struck.

Thoughts after the jump...

As I read this, I could not help but think about Free Radio Austin, that struggled for years to broadcast as a micropower radio station and continually got busted by the FCC and US Marshals. Although it is incredibly frustrating that the FCC has exercised its regulatory responsibilities in a manner that rewards the huge megacorporations like Clear Channel and Viacom but denies a voice to community-based programming like FRA, there's a brief window here. Sometime soon, the FCC will start to muscle in on this turf, also, but for now, today, this week, this month, anyone can set up shop and podcast to an unlimited audience.

Today -- go download iPodder software.
Then read how to set up your own podcast...

Posted: Mon - January 24, 2005 at 01:33 PM        

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